A.S. Sleight Of Hand - Chapter 16

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Cover: arven92.deviantart.com/art/Aza…
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Adult content ahead. Reader discretion advised.

16 – Urbeth

 

“Wār’utt, Urrb’esharr,” said the Queen, as Urbeth bowed respectfully before her.

    After leaving the human in the stable, the silver Azara had entered the castle and climbed the stairs to Lady Izkaph’s room. He had been the last to arrive: Iraz, Mizir and Zaruth were all already there, sitting at her desk. The Queen invited Urbeth to sit as well, and this one obeyed, occupying the only free chair left. Then he immediately replied to her in Azarian:

    “I apologize for my lateness, Arrshā. There seems to be a commotion right outside your castle. I stopped by to ask what was going on, but I did not receive an answer.”

    The Queen nodded: “We were discussing it just now. Something awful has happened last night, while we were sleeping.”

    Eyeing the silver Azara’s worried expression, Lady Izkaph nodded toward Zaruth, inviting her to tell what she knew. This one dipped her head in return and turned toward Urbeth.

    “Rāsh’err has entered Ashkā during the night.”

    The soldier gasped with shock and disbelief: “Are you for real?”

    The russet Azara nodded ominously.

    “She has managed to kill at least five humans before she was spotted by the guards. It might have been even more.”

    His mouth still gaping, Urbeth turned toward the Queen again.

    “How did she enter? Surely not from any of the gates?”

    The grey Azara shook her head: “We don’t know. The gates were secured. The wall is intact, there is no hole through which she could have passed. But what’s even stranger is that she left no tracks. No paw prints, no blood trail, not even a clump of fur. All we were able to find were corpses, and witnesses and guards claiming of having spotted her for a moment. However, not even they are able to tell where she ran off to.”

    The Queen then heaved a long sigh.

    “This is a terrible day for Sh’errk’uttā. The citizens are scared. The humans are terrified,” then she turned toward her servant, the young man with clear amber eyes Urbeth had seen the day before. He had seemed so serious and confident when he offered the kuryar to Aznor the previous day, but now, he looked worried and spooked. “Not even my slaves feel safe here.”

    The silver Azara cast a scolding glance at the human. How could he even doubt his mistress?

    Urbeh shook his head.

    “But Arrshā, this castle is the safest place in Sh’errk’uttā.”

    “Yes, but it has never faced a threat as big as Rāsh’err. It’s as if that beast was challenging me.”

    “And that’s not all,” put in Mizir, who had been unnaturally quiet up to that moment. “I headed to F’erryāt’ash yesterday, to warn the citizens like Ishk’afarr had ordered me. But when I arrived…”

    He took a deep breath before continuing.

    “I only found dead bodies. Rāsh’err had already been there.”

    Shocked, Urbeth imagined as the timid Mizir explored the devastated village of Feryataz, roaming among rotting corpses, looking for survivors.

    Pulling out his usual scroll, Mizir concluded with a stammer: “T-that, plus the five orrèsh of Ashkā, makes a total of six hundred and five killed humans.”

    Pricking his ears, Iraz intervened: “Wait a moment. Before this attack, the count was at three hundred and fifty-six, correct?” At Mizir’s nod, he went on. “So, without counting the five from Ashkā, only two hundred and forty-four people were killed in F’erryāt’ash.”

    The white Azara hissed indignantly.

    “What do you mean ‘only’? Aren’t those enough for you?”

    “That’s not my point,” explained Iraz. “What I mean is, wasn’t F’erryāt’ash more populous? Since when did it only have two hundred and forty-four inhabitants? What about the others? They’re bound to have seen something.”

    “Oh,” replied Mizir, now understanding. “Those were the ones we could retrieve. I only counted the humans whom we found the corpse of. There was no trace of the others, Rāsh’err probably carried their remains to the forest.”

    The Queen acknowledged his words with an ominous nod. She stared at the white Azara for a while, but her eyes were not focused, rather, they seemed lost in deep meditation, and veiled by sheer remorse. The grey Azara finally turned her head seconds after, and shifted her gaze from Mizir to Iraz.

    “Speaking of which, what about you? Have you brought us any news from the forest?”

    Iraz nodded: “Yes, Arrshā. My soldiers and I have found five more traps scattered at its edge, but we don’t know who they belong to. We shall investigate.”

    Lady Izkaph nodded agreement, and Iraz turned to look at Urbeth who sat next to him.

    “By the way,” he began, as he lifted a leather bag that laid at his feet, and rummaged in it, looking for something. “If you see that one orrèsh of yours again, what was his name now? V’eshn’orr⁷⁶?”

    “Ashn’orr,” corrected Zaruth with a sneer, laughing at his joke.

    Urbeth, instead, remained serious.

    “Well?” he prompted.

    Recollecting his composure, Iraz finally pulled something from the bag. It was a red, rounded object, slightly smaller than the palm of his hand. As the cream Azara extracted it from its container, an acrid stench of decomposition invaded the room. Mizir sneezed hard and covered his nose, and Lady Izkaph’s slave gasped with terror.

    “Tell him we found his brother,” concluded Iraz.

    Petrified, Urbeth stared at the mauled skull in his friend’s hand. There was no skin or hair left on it, just a layer of dried blood and patches of dirt clinging to its surface. A large crack opened at its top, from which Razer had probably fed on the child’s brain. Its two empty eye-sockets stared blankly at him. The Azaroth’s deep tooth marks were everywhere.

    “He was a few meters away from the trap the human led us to,” he explained finally. “The rest of his corpse was there as well, and he was missing his right arm.”

    The silver Azara nodded, understanding, feeling bad for his rueful task.

    “I will tell him,” he said at last, and immediately regretted his choice. He didn’t feel like having to hear the human’s whining all over again.

    Dipping her head in dignified agreement, the Queen added: “Bury what’s left of him, Irrasharr. There is no need for the boy to receive his body. He’s not old enough.”

    “Yes, Arrshā.”

    Despite the grim argument, Urbeth found the chance to tell her what had happened to him:

    “Um, regarding the boy…”

    “Yes,” she anticipated him. “How did it go?”

    The Azara lowered his stare.

    “Not well… not well at all,” he began. “She tried to kill him.”

    Understanding, the Queen sighed with resignation: “Oh, Ishā.”

    “Please Arrshā, allow me to return the orrèsh to you,” begged Urbeth, dipping his head. “I cannot keep him in my house anymore, or my wife is going to kick the two of us out. Please entrust him to somebody else.”

    As he spoke, Lady Izkaph remained silent, her eyes veiled by sadness. After a pause that seemed to have no end, the Queen spoke:

    “I apologize for causing you trouble. I understand how you feel, and how Ishā feels too. As for me, I feel awful for having to deny your request.”

    The silver Azara pricked his ears at once.

    “What?” he asked. “But… but why?”

    “Because of what happened last night,” she explained. “Rāsh’err’s attack has upset the whole of Sh’errk’uttā. The citizens are scared, and the humans need protection. I will have to ask every Azara to harbor at least one orrèsh in their houses. I myself will host as many as I can here in the castle. So, even if you return me this human in particular, eventually you will have to harbor another one, and offer them protection. At this point, I assume it’s better for you to keep Ashn’orr, since at least you know him a little, and he is not a complete stranger to you.”

    Urbeth remained speechless at her words. He wanted to say so many things, but his tongue was like stuck in his gaping mouth. He stared blankly back at the Queen.

    This is not happening. Please tell me it isn’t happening!

    “Wait a minute,” put in Zaruth. “Does this mean we also get to lodge orrèsh in our houses?”

    “Exactly,” was Lady Izkaph’s grave answer.

    Mizir gasped with dread and disgust, perhaps anticipating awful days of endless sneezing.

    The russet Azara instead hissed with annoyance, then approached Mizir’s ear and whispered:

    “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

    “I am NOT kidding,” retaliated the Queen with a stern tone, overhearing her words. “This is serious. I am not going to allow Rāsh’err to run havoc as she pleases, not while I’m in charge here. Now, whose side are you on? If you’re on mine, then accept my orders.”

    Zaruth lowered her ears at her scolding.

    “Apologies, Arrshā.”

    Lady Izkaph nodded, accepting, then she got up from her seat.

    “Now, M’ishirrar and Sh’arrusharr, gather volunteers and collect all the orrèsh you manage to find in the streets. Bring them all to my castle, and from there, we shall assign one to each family living in Ashkā. I’ll send harbingers with the message to apply this rule to all the cities and towns of Sh’errk’uttā, until Rāsh’err is caught.”

    The two Azaras got up as well, and dipped their heads at once.

    “Yes, Arrshā.”

    As they exited the room, Lady Izkaph sat down again, and Urbeth addressed her:

    “Arrshā, please think about your decision,” he implored, dipping his head. “Ishā is going to hate me if I bring that orrèsh back home. I promised her it would be for just one night.”

    “You shouldn’t have made a promise that you can’t keep,” scolded the Queen with a hint of a motherly tone in her voice. “I’ve told you it would be until we got rid of Rāsh’err. And you know someone like Rāsh’err cannot be caught in just one night.”

    Urbeth remained quiet, regretting having accepted the duty to begin with. Unexpectedly, Lady Izkaph stood up, walked around her desk, approached him, and patted him on his back.

    “I truly did mean it when I said I was sorry,” she began. “Leave the explanations for Ishā to me. I will deal with her.”

    The silver Azara looked at her curiously, not knowing what she meant. The Queen shifted her gaze from him to her slave, who was sitting on the floor with his back against the big wooden library.

    “The map, R’oshw’err⁷⁷.”

    The man instantly got up, turned to face the library and started rummaging among the books and papers in front of him. Seconds later, he extracted a wide rolled parchment from a bunch, approached his mistress and bowed down as he handed it to her.

    Nodding gratefully, the grey Azara unrolled the big scroll on her desk: the map showed Azca and its entire district, the towns and villages surrounding it from all sides, Feryataz on one and Decut on the opposite, the wide forest and the Queen’s fields to the south, the slopes of a mountain to the west, and the course of a river flowing into a lake to the north. Lady Izkaph grabbed a quill from her desk, and made a spot on the map where the town of Feryataz was. Then she handed the quill to Iraz.

    “Where was Ashn’orr’s brother attacked?”

    The cream Azara circled an area at the edge of the forest of Azca.

    “Approximately around here.”

    “Alright. Then Rāsh’err attacked Ashkā in these spots…” reasoned the Queen, as she marked dots on the city, in the points where the corpses of the humans had been found.

    Urbeth jumped with surprise when he saw that the five dots formed a circle around Lady Izkaph’s castle.

    “She really is challenging you!” he growled. “That awful bastard! Does she really think she can take over the city?”

    The grey Azara was still staring at the map.

    “We shall see about that,” she whispered at last. “We’ll teach her a lesson she won’t forget. Now, Urrb’esharr, and Irrasharr, I’ll need you to go back to the forest. You will have to find the remains of the missing humans M’ishirrarr was talking about.”

    She grabbed the quill again, and marked several spots on the map, where the forest of Azca was.

    “Try here, and here, and here. Rāsh’err has exterminated an entire village. As helpless as the humans were, I’m sure they at least attempted to fight back. Perhaps Rāsh’err was wounded in the process. If you find anything in the forest, even a drop of blood, start looking for a trail. You need to locate her dens as soon as possible, and tear them down if you can. She will be more vulnerable if she has nowhere to hide.”

    Iraz nodded agreement, but Urbeth was more hesitant. The Queen continued:

    “I’m sure you’ve already noticed, but the attacks on F’erryāt’ash and on Ashkā took place in the same night, a few hours away from one another. We need to know how in the world Rāsh’err managed to be in two distant places at almost the same time.”

    “Yes, Arrshā,” said Iraz.

    Urbeth looked up at her, attempting to persuade her one last time.

    “What about the orrèsh I’m guarding? He’s at your stable right now, waiting for your decision.”

    The Queen looked at him with a concerned expression on her face.

    “Leave him here at the castle for now. You can come and pick him up when you return this evening.”

    “Then is it decided?” the silver Azara asked regretfully, lowering his head. “Am I really going to keep him?”

    Lady Izkaph nodded apprehensively but irremovably, and the soldier stared back at her, a glimmer of anger in his eyes.

    He thought about how Iza would react to the unpleasant news. Then his thoughts shifted to Razer. He imagined himself following a trail to her den, finding the black Azaroth there, and engaging in a fearsome fight with her, a fight in which he could easily lose his life. He decided that taking on Razer was a million times better than having to face his wife’s anger, and forcing her to live many awfully stressing moments because of a stupid human. Even though he knew that this was an emergency and that Aznor desperately needed protection, he couldn’t bear the thought of Iza being imposed to live with someone she hated. Sure, the human would be safe and sound this way, but on the other hand, his wife would have to bear all the pain and the distress in his place. It was unfair. Since when was the fate of a human more important than that of an Azara? Iza didn’t deserve to be unhappy or to suffer. Worse yet, she didn’t deserve to feel trapped in her own house. He honestly hoped and prayed the Queen had a good strategy to convince her, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to. After a seemingly never-ending pause, Urbeth finally heaved a long sigh.

    “Very well, Arrshā. Let it be your way.”

 

 

 

76, V’eshn’orr = Literally “Bad hair”, “Awful hair”, a pun with Ashn’orr

77, R’oshw’err (Rothwer) = Literally “Crimson flame”

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(Actual Artist's descrption)

Azarian stories.

So, we left last time with Urbeth heading to the Queen's castle and leaving Aznor behind. So while Azzy is chilling in the stable, Urbeth has an important reunion with the Queen.

We find out that Razer has managed to invade the city. No one knows how, and no one knows where she is now. Sneaky bastard.
But, the Queen decides to increase security measures, and thus orders that all the humans of Azca be assigned to a family of Azaras... and someone is not happy.
Not only that, but Iraz randomly pops up with what is left of Yatur's body. Bravo, Iraz, scattering the remains of Aznor's brother all over the Queen's palace. Applause.
Anyway, the Queen tells him that Aznor shouldn't receive Yatur's body because "he's not old enough". According to the Law of Azaras, humans are considered adults at the age of 21. As such, they acquire the responsibility to bury or cremate their deceased relatives. But Aznor is only 18 in this story.

Aaaaanyway.... You have no idea just how much work I put into this illustration. What was I even thinking. I drew EVERY. SINGLE. HOUSE. ONE. BY. ONE.
it was insane. But incredibly rewarding in the end.

Also, yes, that's Azarian writing you see on the map. The "symbols" look random, but each actually corresponds to a grammar particle.
As the text says, the map represents the Capital, Azca (big city in the middle). Right above it, the smaller town of Decut, where Urbeth lives (you can recognize it by the road spitting in two right in front of it). To the opposite side, where Urbeth is laying his hand, there's a forest and another town (not included in the map, but just a short way off there). That's where Feryataz is.

Little quiz. Can you spot the Colosseum?

Enjoy this chapter!

Characters and art (c)